Better Life
by Snows Of Yester-Year
Summary: The war may be over, but peace hasn't come quite yet. As Katara and Aang journey to take one step closer to bringing peace to the world, they see together how far they have to go, but at the same time learn how they make one another weak - and strong.


A/N: I was going to say something witty but I forgot.

This is my contribution for Tuesdays prompt (Kataang Week, whoo! This is strength/weakness) and yes it's massive and yes I might be turning it into a multi-chapter.

I forget who beta'd this (sleep I need it) but thanks!

Disclaimer: Avatar isn't mine but you knew that

* * *

"I don't think it's such a great idea for you to go with Aang, Katara."

Katara rose from her position of bending over her half-packed bag, her sharp blue eyes shining in the early morning light as she glared at her friend. She was annoyed; she hadn't expected Toph to wake up. "What's that supposed to mean, Toph?" she snapped, going on the defensive. "I'm a master waterbender and his _girlfriend_, I have every right to go with him."

"Actually, that's the whole reason why you shouldn't," Toph clarified. "The second part, that is."

The sun had barely risen over the sea of buildings that was Ba Sing Se. The day before, the gang had received word of a small uprising in the south. It was, in fact, small enough that Aang insisted that he could handle it alone. He was unrelenting on this point even when his friends argued that they could help him. Later last night, though, Aang had approached Katara and asked in a soft voice if she would mind coming with him. Surprised but happy that he had changed his stance on the issue - at least regarding her - Katara had readily agreed.

Toph, however, obviously thought this to be unwise.

Katara crossed her arms, trying to keep her voice low so that she didn't wake Suki. "Why would I not go with him just because I'm his girlfriend?"

Toph heaved a sigh. "Because it's no secret that you're the Avatar's girl. If these rebels are smart, they'll go after you and use you as leverage. Hate to break it to you, Sugar Queen, but you're less of an asset and more of a vulnerability."

"Hate to break it to you, _Toph_, but Aang needs me," Katara seethed, as she turned back to continue packing.

"No he doesn't," Toph snorted. "He's the Avatar, why would he need your help settling this? It's the smallest rebellion we've seen in months!"

"He _asked_ me to come along!"

"Say no," Toph shrugged. "Go find him and tell him something came up."

"...No," Katara said softly. "I can't do that to him." She shut her pack and threw the strap over her shoulder before leveling her friend with an apologetic look that she couldn't see. "I'm sorry, Toph, but I just can't," she reiterated. "We'll be back soon. Take care."

"Be careful," Toph said. Katara didn't miss the concern that softened the usually blunt edge to her friend's voice. Unsure of what else to say and feeling guilty that she had blown off Toph's advice, Katara hesitated for a moment before she stepped out of the room she shared with two of her best friends and gently slid the door shut behind her.

There was really no need for them to share rooms - there was more than enough space for them all to have their own. But after only a few nights in Ba Sing Se, the gang had found that after months of sleeping under the stars with their friends by their sides, the switch to being alone in an empty room was unnerving. Almost without thinking, the gang started migrating to where their other friends were sleeping until there were only three rooms in use; one for Katara, Toph and Suki, one for Aang, Sokka and Zuko, and one for Mai who thought that the rest of them were nuts for willingly surrendering privacy in favor of sharing a sleeping space with people that drove them crazy sometimes.

Katara thought about this somewhat unusual arrangement as she made her way to the kitchen to grab some fruit for breakfast. They were staying in the same house they lived in last time they were in Ba Sing Se. Last time they were here, though, they had no trouble sleeping in separate rooms even though they had been traveling together for months.

What had changed? Katara couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had a feeling that she knew what it was. From the moment Azula had killed Aang in the crystal catacombs, the group dynamic had shifted. They had always loved each other, but their feelings were solidified by the sobering tragedy. They remembered, by the way of the painful shock of seeing one of their best friends laying unnaturally still and silent, the very real danger that they faced. From that moment on, the thought of being apart was suddenly very disconcerting, and after the final battle where they had all almost died at one point or the other it was practically unbearable. No surprise, then, that they should elect to stay together even when sleeping.

It was for this same reason that Katara had resolved to go with Aang, even though she privately saw where Toph was coming from. They've been in Ba Sing Se for about half of a year now, tied to the city because that's where the difficult and drawn-out peace negotiations were still taking place. It would probably pass faster if the Avatar and the Fire Lord, two key components to the negotiations, didn't have to keep leaving every few weeks to put down rebellions and uprisings started by vengeful Earth Kingdom and disgruntled Fire Nation citizens alike. Unable to stomach the thought of being apart and eager to help with the continued efforts at peacekeeping, the whole gang usually went to settle these uprisings. It almost hurt Katara to think of Aang going by himself. Unwilling to do that to him, she felt that she had no choice but to go with him.

Katara gathered some fruit and bread to hold them over until they could land; they would want to cover as much area as possible in one shot so they could get back to Ba Sing Se and continue with the treaties and negotiations as soon as possible. Once Katara thought she had enough, she made her way out to the back where she saw Aang preparing Appa for the journey while Momo chased a a cricket around the grass at his masters feet. She slowly crept up behind the preoccupied airbender and wrapped her arms around him, unable to keep a small smile off of her face as she murmured, "Good morning."

Aang twisted in her gentle grip, an infectious grin spread across his features. "'Morning, Katara!" he exclaimed happily, wrapping her in a strong hug. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, I did," she responded, giving him a light squeeze before holding him out at arms length. "Did you -" she blinked, noticing the exhausted look in his eyes, and frowned at him. "Did you sleep at all?"

His grin faltered. "Erm...well..."

Katara folded her arms over her chest and lifted her eyebrows expectantly at him. "Yes?"

He bit his lip, his wide gray eyes fixed unshakably on his shoes. "Not...really, no."

Katara's eyes widened. She groaned loudly, smacking her own forehead briefly before giving him a stern look. "Aang, why didn't you sleep? You knew we had to travel a lot today! You're going to make yourself sick!"

"I had to go over some stuff about water rights," he said sheepishly. "The Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom both claim the one section of the eastern ocean that has the really good fishing waters and they're trying to work that out right now."

"I know that, Aang, I do pay attention in the meetings," she said testily, "but you didn't have to stay up all night for it!"

"Yes I did," he said wearily. "The proposal was like thirty pages long-"

"Who spends thirty pages talking about _fish_?!"

"-and they wanted my input today," Aang finished, acting as though she hadn't interrupted. "And there was a _lot_ of stuff that needed to be fixed. I don't think we should let-"

"Couldn't they have waited?" she interrupted angrily. "It's not like you were going to be gone for a month! It's a small rebellion and it'll take a few days, tops, it wouldn't have killed them to-"

Aang leaned in and gave her an abrupt but gentle kiss, effectively silencing her rambling. Her cheeks colored at the sudden gesture, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment when he pulled away. "They're just impatient to get things ironed out," he explained in a patient voice. "And honestly, I understand that _completely_."

"Well, so do I, but I don't think they should be so demanding if it's going to keep you up all night," she muttered petulantly.

Aang grabbed her hand and gave it a small squeeze. "It's fine," he insisted. "I don't mind. It's not like it's the first time."

"Yeah, I know," she said glumly. "You're losing a lot of sleep, Aang; it isn't healthy."

"It's fine," he reiterated, giving her a small smile. "Now, let's get a move on," he said as he started to climb up onto Appa's head. "I don't think we can quite make it by nightfall, but-"

"Hang on," Katara said suddenly, reaching up and grabbing a fistful of his robes. "No, I don't think so, you get in the saddle with Momo. I'm steering Appa," she insisted as she pulled him back to the ground.

"What?!" he exclaimed as she she climbed up onto the bison. "Why?"

"Because you're exhausted and need rest," she said, gathering the reins. "Now, where are we going?"

Aang's shoulders slumped slightly. "You're not backing down, are you?"

"Nope."

He sighed heavily, climbing up into the saddle as Momo flew up to settle down into his favorite corner to nap. "A little town called Qing Shan," Aang said. "It's north of Gaoling."

She gave him a small smile of thanks before turning around and calling out, "Appa - yip yip!"

* * *

For the first hour or so, Aang sat at the front of the saddle and talked to Katara, although she suspected that this was partially out of a desire to prove to her that he wasn't tired and she didn't have to steer. That particular mission died a sudden, painful death when Aang fell asleep. It took Katara a few minutes to figure out what had happened; when she turned around to investigate the break in his chatter, she saw that he was sleeping, his head resting on the edge of the saddle and a peaceful expression on his face. She turned back around, smiling quietly to herself.

A few hours passed in relative silence. Katara watched the cloud formations in the sky around her and the scenery below her, occasionally glancing back at the sleeping Avatar. After one such occasion of checking up on him, she experienced a brief moment of fear upon looking back at the Earth Kingdom below them; she imagined what would have happened had Ozai succeeded. She imagined the land below her in flames and the sky surrounding her a sinister blood red. Her heart stuck in her throat when she realized what such a reality would have meant not only for the world but for the young man sitting behind her. A thrill of terror ripped through her slightly trembling form. She was overcome by the overwhelming desire to climb into the saddle and just hold him, but she didn't. She reminded herself quietly that Aang had won, Ozai had fallen, the war had ended and the world was on the mend.

Still, she couldn't banish the vivid mental image of the Earth Kingdom burning and Aang, the Avatar, the boy she _loved_, falling to Ozai in a failed effort to protect it.

About an hour later, she heard him muttering to himself behind her. Thinking that he had woken up, she turned around to greet him. She was surprised to see that he was still asleep, his boyish features drawn into a troubled expression as he mumbled repeatedly, "No...no, don't...can't...gotta find..."

Realizing that he was having a bad dream, Katara quickly dropped the reins and scrambled up into the saddle. She pulled Aang up from his awkward position on the edge of the saddle and held him against her, murmuring gently in his ear, "Aang? Aang, wake up, it's just a dream. Aang. Aang!"

He woke with a start, pulling abruptly away from her. Momo also awoke from the sudden commotion, chattering angrily at having been disturbed before settling back down with his back turned to them. Aang's breath was coming in heavy pants, his stormy eyes wild with confusion and fear. When he realized where he was and what was happening, he groaned Katara's name in relief, falling back against her and wrapping her arms around her middle. She gladly embraced him, running her fingers along his spine. "It's okay, Aang, it's okay...it was just a nightmare."

"I know," she heard him say, his voice soft and broken. "But it felt so real..."

She tightened her embrace, her heart hurting in light of his apparent pain and fear. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," he said, surprising her. "I just want to stay like this for a minute."

She nodded in understanding. "Do you mind if we sit up front? I don't want Appa to get off course."

He nodded and pulled away reluctantly, following her to sit on Appa's head. He settled in next to her, taking the reins when she offered them and leaning into her side as she wordlessly wrapped her arm around him.

She glanced down at him, silently studying his serious face. It was quite the contrast from the smiling young man that he had been this morning. Concern mixed with curiosity and she asked softly, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

For several moments, he didn't say a word. His eyes, which were usually alight with laughter and love, were cold and silent as he stared ahead of him. After several minutes of this, she was sure that he wasn't going to answer her, and she had just resolved to drop the topic when he spoke.

"I couldn't find you."

She jumped slightly, blinking in surprise at not only the words but the way in which he said them; his voice was serious and quiet, nothing like what she was used to. She gave him a gentle squeeze and asked softly, "What do you mean?"

He took a deep, shaky breath, and she saw the shimmer of unshed tears in his eyes. She then realized why he was being so reserved and withdrawn; he was trying not to cry.

"It was after the battle with Ozai," he explained, "except you guys all came with me and were helping me fight. Something happened...an earthquake or something, it's slipping away from me, and you were trapped underneath. Sokka told me to keep fighting and that he would find you, but he couldn't, so I finished the fight and went to help, but..." his voice broke, a few tears escaping unbidden, "I couldn't...find you..."

Katara wordlessly wrapped both of her arms around Aang and pulled him against her. He dropped the reins for a moment and returned the embrace, his face pressed against the crook of her neck. She felt a few of his tears against her bare skin and she hugged him tighter, whispering words of comfort to him.

"It's okay, Aang, it's okay," she murmured as he continued to silently cry into her shoulder. "I'm right here, okay? I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere, I promise..."

He let out a soft, choked sob and she hugged him tighter, squeezing her eyes shut in an effort to fight back tears of her own at his obvious pain. After a few more minutes of this, he wordlessly pushed himself back from her, wiping his eyes with the heel of his hand before he muttered, "I'm sorry. That was stupid."

"No, it wasn't," she insisted, reaching out to gently stroke his cheek. "There's nothing for you to be sorry for."

He shrugged in response, his eyes trained out to the horizon. "That's what kept me up last night," he admitted softly. "I did have to read the reports, yeah, but I didn't have to be quite that...thorough. But I'd had that nightmare the night before, and..."

"How often do you have nightmares?" she asked.

"Almost every night."

"Me, too," she whispered.

He studied her face, his gray eyes soft and warm again. "Do Toph and Suki have nightmares?"

"I don't know...do Sokka and Zuko?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Zuko has them a lot. There's a lot of nights where we both just stay up, afraid to go back to sleep."

"Do you you two talk about them?"

He hesitated, trying to figure out how to answer. "We don't...need to."

She nodded and reached down to grab his hand, squeezing it to indicate that she understood. "Is that why you asked me to come? The nightmare?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, studying their joined hands. "I couldn't stand the thought of being away from you."

Katara hesitated for a moment. "Toph...didn't want me to come."

He lifted his eyes in surprise. "Really? How come?"

Katara shrugged, averting her eyes. "She thought I'd be more of a weakness to you - that people might take advantage of how you feel and go after me."

Aang blinked a few times, processing this new information. "Well..." he said slowly, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, "she's right in a way."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

He hesitated for a moment, trying to find the words he needed. "If something happened to you, or if you were in danger, I'd probably go out of my way to try to help you, even if I shouldn't. But...I'm not really worried about that. You're a really strong bender, you can hold your own well; I usually feel like I shouldn't have to worry about you."

She lifted her eyebrows at him. "Usually?"

"Pretty much always," he amended sheepishly. "But...well, I love you. I don't want anything to happen to you. I'll always be just a little worried about you; I don't think that can be helped."

She nodded in understanding, blushing slightly at his words. "Should I have stayed behind?"

"No," he said firmly, squeezing her hand and giving her a hesitant smile. "Maybe it's a little selfish and stupid, but I'd rather run that risk and have you with me than not have that risk and have you back home."

She smiled back at him. "I guess that makes us both a little selfish and stupid."

* * *

As Aang predicted, they weren't quite there when they had to land for the night, but they didn't have much farther they had to travel the next day. They brought Appa down as the sun was setting and quickly set up camp, building a fire and setting out their bags. By the time it was dark, Katara was cooking some stew over the fire while Aang took care of Appa. She called out to him when the stew was ready, handing him his bowl and settling next to him in front of the fire.

They ate in silence, their eyes trained on the small but comforting camp fire. When they finished, Appa came over, and they leaned back against his bulk after he had settled down behind them while Momo scavenged on the outskirts of camp for food. Katara smiled at the diminutive lemur, pulling a peach out of her nearby bag and offering it to him. He chattered gratefully, snatching it from her outstretched hand before scampering over to settle in between the her and Aang.

"Hey," Katara laughed, "you're kind of in the way, there, Momo."

Aang chuckled, picking Momo up and setting him down on his other side. He rubbed the irritated lemur's head, smiling and saying, "Sorry, buddy."

"Are you really sorry, though?" Katara teased him gently as she scooted closer.

"Not especially," he grinned, wrapping an arm around her. She settled her head against his shoulder, enjoying his gentle warmth more than the warmth of the fire. They sat in this comfortable silence for several minutes, taking a simple joy in nothing more than each other's presence. After some time had passed, though, Aang's mind wandered back to their earlier conversation after his nightmare and latched onto something that Katara had said.

"Katara?" he said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you...really get nightmares a lot?"

"...Yeah," she said, "I do."

He hesitated briefly. "What...what are they, usually?"

Instead of responding, she turned her head to bury her face in his neck and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He didn't need more of a response than that. He pulled her closer, shutting his eyes and holding her tight. After several moments of this, he heard her voice.

"Aang?"

"Yes, Katara?"

She hesitated, aware of what her request was going to sound like. "Would you mind...I mean, would it be okay if I...slept with you tonight?"

He jerked away, his eyes wide with shock. "What?"

"Not like that!" she clarified in alarm, kicking herself for her terrible wording. "I mean, like...can we literally..._sleep_ together? Would you mind?"

Aang settled down considerably when he realized what he meant, his face and eyes relaxing. "Yeah - I mean, no, I wouldn't mind. I'd like that."

It wasn't long before they decided that they should go to bed so they could get up early the next morning and finish their journey. Aang wanted to sleep on top of Katara's sleeping bag, but she insisted that she didn't have a problem with sleeping on the bare earth, so they settled easily against the ground, Aang covering them up with a blanket he had dug out of Katara's bag. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around him while Aang silently held her against him. It didn't take them long at all before they drifted off to sleep.

..~•°•~.. ~•°•~.. ~•°•~..

_Katara and Aang were walking through the most barren desert she had ever seen, holding hands and nervously glancing around at the landscape._

"_How are we going to get out of here?" Katara wondered out loud._

_Aang gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "We'll get out, Katara, don't worry." _

"_Are you sure about that?"_

_The voice that came from behind them made them both jump and turn around. Standing there with a wicked smirk on his face was none other than Ozai. The two instinctively took a simultaneous step back, eyes wide and panicked as they regarded their adversary. In a flash, lightning formed around his hands, the deadly energy crackling around his body. The teens promptly took defensive stances, surprisingly unafraid of the fatal force they were facing. Ozai's cold yellow eyes were fixed on Aang for a long, tense moment before they swung over to Katara, and she knew right away what he was going to do - she had seen Azula do the exact same thing before -_

_A bolt of the deadly electricity was suddenly streaming towards Katara. Like at Azula and Zuko's agni kai, her body froze - even though her mind was screaming for her to get out of the way, she couldn't move. She was too panicked. In the split second before the lightning hit, Aang let out a strangled cry that sounded like her name and stepped into the lightning's path. He barely had time to lift his hand in an attempt to redirect it before it hit him in his heart. The force of the blow threw him back against Katara, who cried out, catching him and gently settling him down to the ground. His face was still and silent. She looked up to see if Ozai was about to attack again, but he wasn't there - he had disappeared._

_Free of the threat of being attacked, Katara quickly reached back to uncork her water canteen to heal Aang. __She groaned softly when she saw his wound; this was her fault, all her fault...he had done that to save her. __She pulled out the stopper, but no water came out. Instead, it was sand - bone-dry, useless sand that poured into her outstretched hand. It took her a moment to process the lack of water, and another moment for her to realize what that meant._

_She couldn't save him. _

* * *

Katara bolted upright, her breath coming in heavy gasps as the last vestiges of the nightmare dissipated. The sight of Aang laying prone on the ground with a fatal wound to his heart, though, remained etched in her vision. She curled up and rested her head against her knees, rapidly blinking back tears and taking several deep, shaky breaths.

Suddenly, she heard the soft rustle of cloth to her side, and she felt a comforting arm wrap around her shoulders. "Katara?" Aang said softly, his voice thick with concern. She turned to him and held onto him, biting her lip to keep herself from crying. He hugged her silently, rubbing her back in an effort to comfort her.

"This is not our day for dreaming," Aang muttered, and she let out a choked laugh in spite of herself.

"Not at all," Katara agreed quietly.

They realized that the sun was coming up, so the two got up and packed up camp so they could finish their journey.

"It should only be another hour, maybe two," Aang announced as he climbed up onto Appa. Katara nodded, clambering up into the saddle and settling herself near the front so she could talk to her boyfriend while they were flying. Momo flew up and settled into her lap with the clear intention of sleeping some more. She gave the lemur an endearing smile and absently scratched him behind his ears. It was only a few more moments before they were off again.

The time they had to spend flying passed quickly with the two of them talking and laughing with each other. Katara was almost disappointed when Aang leaned forward and exclaimed, "I see it! We're almost there!"

Katara frowned at the town. It was sort of in the middle of nowhere; most of the surrounding area was sparse in vegetation and rather barren. The town itself seemed sad and run down...and almost deserted.

"So what exactly is the situation here?" Katara asked quietly as Aang looked for a place to land.

Aang frowned, thinking back to the letter he had received a few days ago regarding the small town. "They had a group of soldiers that was supposed to protect the town during the war. Apparently, the soldiers are not only unwilling to relinquish power, they took a few passing Fire Nation colonists captive and are refusing to let them go."

Katara frowned as well, studying the town as Appa landed outside of it's borders. "Are you sure we can handle this alone? It sounds kind of serious."

"There aren't that many soldiers," Aang explained, turning to face her, "and the civilians don't really support them, so that's a definite advantage."

She nodded in agreement. "True."

The two climbed down from their perches on Appa's back. Aang affectionately rubbed the sky bisons' nose and said, "Stay right here, Appa. Hopefully we won't be long." The massive creature let out a loud rumble of affirmation, and with that Katara and Aang started making their way towards the town.

It was quiet. The main street of the small town was deserted, the storefronts on either side empty. A bit farther down, they heard the low rumble of voices. Exchanging a cautious glance, the two approached the ally where the sounds were coming from, cautious and ready to attack at a moments notice.

"Who are you?"

The low voice boomed from behind Aang and Katara, making them jump and spin around. Standing there was a tall, foreboding man with narrow green eyes and a stern face. His gaze flicked up to the arrow on Aang's forehead and he let out a grunt. "The Avatar...what are you doing here?"

Aang straightened his back, frowning at the man. Before he could respond, a voice came from the ally behind them:

"Gao, Shang has returned - and with another Fire Nation prisoner."

Aang turned back to the man, new resolve burning inside of him. "Are you the leader of the rebellion here?"

"What's it to you, Avatar?" the man sneered.

"You have to stop this," Aang responded firmly. "I'm giving you a chance to back down on your own. Release your prisoners and give control of the town back to the people who live here."

"I don't think so."

The young Avatar groaned. "Please," he said, "I don't want to fight-"

Out of nowhere, an egg came zooming over and smacked Aang square in the shoulder. Katara reacted immediately, spinning in the direction the egg had come from and roughly bending some water out of her water skin only to see that the attacker was a young, skinny boy. He was glaring at them, and in his hand was a second egg. Katara narrowed her eyes warningly at him.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and glanced back to see Aang, his eyes silently asking her to stand down. She obliged reluctantly, bending the water back and settling with glaring at the attacker. Aang trained his eyes on the younger and asked patiently, "Did you throw that egg?"

Before the boy could respond, a woman came out of the store behind him, her eyes shining fearfully from behind her hair as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Lee, don't-"

"It's his fault, Mom!" the boy exclaimed furiously. "The war has been over for six months, but are things any better? No! Dad and Sen Tzu still haven't come back and the stupid soldiers-"

"You watch your mouth, punk!" Gao growled.

"It's his fault," Lee reiterated, glaring hatefully at Aang. "If he really cared so much then why are we still suffering?"

"Don't you _dare_ talk as though Aang doesn't care!" Katara erupted furiously. "He almost died countless times so that the war could be over and the world could know peace and you thank him by throwing an egg at him?!"

"_Nothing has changed_!" he shouted back. "My brother and dad are still gone and we're still living with these _soldiers_ running our town as though there's still a war going on! What has he done for us? Nothing!"

"He's just one person!"

"Katara," Aang cut in softly, gently grabbing her shoulder and imploring her with his eyes to stand down. "Please..."

She glared at him for a long, tense moment before softening under his pleading gaze. She heaved a sigh and dropped her defensive stance. He gave her shoulder a squeeze of thanks before turning to the boy.

"I'm sorry," he said to him. "I know things are still hard right now, and we're all struggling to try to fix this. I understand that you're angry and upset, and you have every right to be, but...I _do_ care, and I _am_ trying to fix this." He lowered his eyes, trying to sort through the melee of emotions that were tearing through him, when suddenly his earthbending sensed a shift in the stance of the man behind him.

Gao was about to attack.

Aang spun around at the exact moment that Gao grabbed a heavy hammer off of his belt to attack and Katara lashed out a water whip. Gao stomped the ground, a heavy boulder lifting from it, and used his hammer to send it barreling towards Katara. She dodged it quickly as Aang shifted the ground beneath the attackers' feet, causing him to temporarily lose his balance and stumble. The two teens took offensive stances, making it clear that they wouldn't hesitate to attack. Here, Aang made a mistake; he was so intent on Gao that he didn't feel the vibrations of his men moving around them until it was too late.

The methodology of their attackers was simple and brutal; before Aang even had time to process what was happening or Katara had the chance to defend herself, one of the soldiers had grabbed her and dragged her over behind Gao, pinning her hands firmly behind her back so she couldn't bend. As if that wasn't enough, he pulled a dagger from his belt and held it against the soft skin of Katara's neck, the threat clear in his eyes.

The air suddenly because very still. Aang's entire demeanor shifted. His body stiffened, his eyes narrowed, and a deadly serious expression captured his features.

"Let. Her. Go."

"Stand down and she won't get hurt," the soldier responded smugly, tightening his grip on her bound wrists. Aang locked his gaze with Katara's and was unsurprised to see no fear in her sharp blue eyes; just rage and frustration. He looked back at the soldier, his mind working through his options. If he attacked the soldier, he ran the risk of Katara getting hurt in the crossfire, or of her captor cutting her throat before the attack reached it's mark. But what would happen if he stood down? These men weren't stupid; they knew that the second they released Katara, Aang would just attack again. He was sure that the only thing they would accept would be Aang allowing himself to be apprehended. He groaned quietly to himself; could things get any worse? He had understood what Toph meant when she said that the two of them going on missions together was more of a weakness than anything else, but the reality of her declaration hadn't really sunk in until now.

Somehow, though, Aang didn't feel weak or powerless; on the contrary, seeing her in danger just strengthened his resolve. He looked Katara in the eye again, and tried to communicate that he didn't know what to do. Her eyes darted about briefly, looking for another option. There didn't appear to be one.

"Make your decision, Avatar," the soldier growled, and much to Aang's shock and terror he pressed the knife against her skin lightly. The Avatar wondered to himself how much more it would take before blood was drawn.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, Aang knew what he had to do. He glared wordlessly at Gao before pointedly dropping his staff and holding his arms out. Smirking, Gao dropped his hammer and stepped forward, extracting cuffs to bind the Avatar.

Suddenly, Aang shifted his stance, and before any of the soldiers had time to react he literally ripped the ground up from under Gao's feet, causing him to come crashing down. In reaction, the soldier holding Katara jerked his knife slightly, making a shallow cut and drawing a thin line of blood, but he never had the opportunity to finish the job because Aang earthbended a rock into him head. The soldier grunted in surprise before falling to the ground, unconscious. Katara promptly stumbled away from him, her left hand shooting up to her neck to stop the slight blood flow while her right hand hurriedly bended some water out to heal herself. Aang ran over to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said firmly, pulling out more water and glaring at the rest of the soldiers. "Now let's do this."

The two stood back to back as the remainder of the soldiers surrounded them menacingly. "Think we can take them?" Aang asked, snatching his staff up off of the ground.

Katara smirked. "No question."

"What should we do?"

Katara thought for a moment, her eyes scanning the street. "There's a few barrels of water by that store," she said in a low voice. "I think once we get them restrained, we'll be in good shape."

Aang nodded, grinning to himself. "Sounds like a plan."

Together, they attacked.

Katara sent out a stream of water, using it to knock the legs out from under several of her opponents, while Aang sent out a coil of fire to send more of them back. Their earthbending was crude and simplistic; their strength lay in numbers alone. Aang easily deflected their attacks, but having them come at him from all sides wasn't making the task easy.

Behind him, Katara had frozen several of the soldiers to the storefronts and was fighting to do the same to the rest. Following her lead, he pulled some water out of the second barrel behind it and sent it surging towards his opponents, freezing five of them to the wall. He turned to the others, jerking his hand up in an earthbending attack that sent them flying.

Finally, all of the soldiers were either frozen to a solid surface or groaning on the ground - all except one. Gao stood glaring at the two, his cold green eyes glinting in the sunlight. For a long moment, neither side made a move; Aang became vaguely aware of several of the townsfolk cautiously lining the street, watching the unfolding drama. He stood in absolute silence, concentrating on the vibrations and waiting for Gao to make the first move.

Finally, Gao attacked, smacking his hammer against the ground to send boulders flying into the air and sending them hurtling towards the two teens. Katara stepped forward, shooting out a sharp and deliberate spike of water and shattering the oncoming rocks. When she did that, Aang ducked around her and earthbended a spike up out of the ground, knocking Gao over. Before he had a chance to get back up, Aang was standing over him, his arms in a firebending stance as a clear threat that was backed up by the look in his eyes that said back down, or else.

Growling, Gao threw aside his hammers in a sign of surrender.

"You and your soldiers need to leave this town," Aang commanded in a low voice. "If you come back, I won't be as lenient."

No arguments were made against the visibly angry Avatar; in retrospect, it probably wasn't the best idea to threaten his girlfriend. All it did was piss him off.

Aang and Katara didn't back down from their offensive stances until the soldiers had packed up their stuff and made their way out of the town, which took about an hour. It seemed like the entire town was lined up and watching the spectacle. Once they left, Aang let out a heavy sigh and dropped to the ground, holding his head in his hands. Katara knelt beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Aang?"

"I'm sorry you were put in danger, Katara," Aang said softly.

Katara squeezed his shoulder. "It's not like you forced me to come. In any case, I should be the one that's sorry. I put you in a terrible position."

He reached up and squeezed her hand. "It's not a big deal, Katara," he said. "It worked out. How's your neck?"

She tilted her head so that he could see, giving him a small smile. "Good as new."

He reached up to trace the skin where she had been cut, his expression unreadable. "Thank the spirits..."

Katara lowered her eyes. "I guess Toph was right after all," she said. "I was a vulnerability - a weakness."

"No," Aang said firmly. "You were my strength."

She blinked at him. "How?"

He shrugged, giving her a small smile. "You just...make me strong, Katara. I was even more determined when you were in trouble, and with you by my side I felt...invincible."

She blushed gently. "I feel the same way."

They glanced around at the townspeople, who were watching them curiously. Katara stood quickly, offering her hand to Aang to pull him up. He took it, allowing her to help him to his feet, and glanced over at the boy who had thrown the egg at him - Lee. He felt that he had to talk to him, but to a degree, he was afraid to. And the he would have to inquire as to where the Fire Nation prisoners were being held...the weariness and trepidation compounded inside of him. When he felt Katara squeeze his hand, though, the fear trickled away and in its place he felt strength.

He understood completely where Toph had been coming from, but she was wrong. Katara wasn't a weakness for him. She was the very source of his strength.


End file.
